Success for local triathletes Hannah Pace and Graham Borg in the Garmin Barcelona Triathlon

Graham Borg (Birkirkara St. Joseph) and Hannah Pace (Pembroke Athleta) joined thousands of triathletes on Sunday 21st June on the starting line of the Garmin Barcelona Triathlon, which has since its inception in 2008 attracted thousands of  professional and amateur triathletes.
 
This race was Birkirkara St. Joseph’s Graham Borg’s first foray in the professional category when he was invited to race with the likes of Olympian and Junior World Championships Gold Medal Winner (2009), one of the top pro triathletes in the world and subsequent winner on the day - Mario Mola, pro Welsh national Triathlete Liam Lloyd, Guillem Moreno and Spanish national team member Cesc Godoy.  Graham exited the water in a time of 20:43.

Racing in draft legal conditions, Graham held his own with the top athletes, completing the fast, flat course in 56 minutes, 10 seconds.  Borg registered a time of 37 minutes 48 seconds in the run to complete the race in 1 hour 58 mins and 30 seconds, securing sixteenth place in the overall classification and fifth in the overall classification excluding the Pro category. Commenting after the race Borg expressed his satisfaction at having improved on the run, which used to be inferior to his swim and bike, but consistent and focused training has shown good results.
 
Garmin sponsored, Pembroke Athleta, triathlete Hannah Pace, put on a very determined performance to finish second female in a time of 1 hour 3 minutes and 51 seconds. Racing in very hot and humid conditions, Pace was second out of the water, one minute after leading triathlete.  Pace tackled the flat and fast bike course with sheer focus to register the fastest female bike split of the day. Although draft legal Pace was on the front of the peloton resulting her cycling alone on the way.  With the run segment being undertaken in the midday sun and with the efforts of the bike taking a slight toll, Pace was still capable of finishing the Sprint Race in second position and thus winning a place on the prestigious podium. Winner of the race was professional triathlete María Pujol Perez who in her career has won several prestigious titles.
 
Pace and Borg’s participation in the Garmin Barcelona Triathlon was made possible through the assistance of Garmin Malta, represented locally by Medcomms Malta Ltd. and Garmin Spain.
 
Pace and Borg’s international commitments continue in July, when they will be joining the rest of the Malta National Triathlon team for the 2015 ETU Triathlon European Championships to be held in Geneve, Switzerland.
 
“Hannah and Graham have always done the Garmin Brand proud with their achievements, but today they exceeded our expectations and we are very happy with the results registered today.” said Mark Gaglione, Garmin distributor for Malta.